Guest MINDSETTER™ Steven Artigas: Open Letter to Gordon Fox

Guest MINDSETTER™ Steven Artigas: Open Letter to Gordon Fox

The following is an open letter to Rhode Island Speaker of the House Gordon D. Fox:

Your years-long effort to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island has produced the result you sought. This outcome is a strong testament to the power of the office you hold, as well as your ability to navigate the adverse currents of opinion on an issue that has long divided our state.

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I ask that you now apply that power and that talent to banish the scourge of the master lever from Rhode Island politics. The problems with this checkoff have been graphically demonstrated. As you know, there is a long and growing list of prominent Rhode Islanders of every stripe who want to see this happen. There is no question that good government demands it. It seems the only objectors are those General Assembly members who fear losing their seats should the master lever be abolished.

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It is clear that you and you alone hold the lifeline for this issue. In the interest of fairness, please resurrect this bill for a vote in the House of Representatives, and use your considerable powers of persuasion to help get it enacted into law. Rhode Island is counting on you.

Steven Artigas is a lifelong Westerly resident.